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Monthly Archives: February 2005

The reaction to the ‘bus accord’ signed by the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan last week in Islamabad has been a mixed one. While those who staunchly support peace between the two countries have welcomed it as a fillip to the composite dialogue which can now be expected to move forward.

Others who have adopted a hard line on Kashmir feel that the decision to link Muzaffarabad and Srinagar by a bus service will be hurtful to their cause. For instance, the BJP, which started the dialogue with Pakistan and is now in the opposition, feels that the bus will allow terrorists to infiltrate the Valley.Continue reading →

The India-Pakistan dialogue has had many ups and downs since it was launched last year. The fact is that every time there is a “down” there are many who wait with bated breath and keep their fingers crossed.

Is there need for this over-reaction – if one may call it so? Yes, if one remembers that both India and Pakistan now have nuclear capability and could use nuclear weapons if war breaks out between them. They have threatened to do so, at least on one occasion.Continue reading →

There are days when in the flood of depressing news of wars, violence and killing, newspapers carry a cheery item that restores to some extent readers’ faith in the goodness of man. Last Friday was one such day when this paper reported a statement by the Nazim of Karachi, Naimatullah Khan, that the city would get eight new libraries.

Plots for the purpose have already been identified in different localities, we were told. But one will have to drum up all of one’s optimism to believe that these libraries, which are to be air-conditioned, are just round the corner. Moreover, if you are not an avid newspaper reader you may not remember that in early November 2004 an identical statement was issued by the city government’s office.Continue reading →

As the crisis in Balochistan deepens, frequent references have been made to the East Pakistan tragedy of 1971 and it is recalled how the army action there led to the break-up of the country.

Sardar Sherbaz Mazari, a veteran Baloch politician, said the other day that he didn’t want to sound bitter but he felt that the problems in Sui and Gwadar have made the people of Balochistan feel the same way as the people of East Pakistan felt in 1971. He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Brig A. R. Siddiqi’s book, East Pakistan: The End Game.Continue reading →